I'm a staff writer at Forbes, where until recently I chased the super-rich for our Forbes 400 and World's Billionaires lists. Now I'm covering the consumer economy, writing about the big personalities reinventing retail. Before Forbes, I worked as a news reporter in the UK and my home country of Bermuda, a travel writer for Frommer's and an intern for CNN's Anderson Cooper while completing a master's degree at Columbia University. Got a story idea? Email me at coconnor@forbes.com.

Jessica Simpson: Fashion's Next Billionaire? Um, No.

There’s been no shortage of headlines this week proclaiming erstwhile actress and singer Jessica Simpson a billionaire thanks to impressive annual sales figures for her eponymous empire. Clothes bible Women’s Wear Daily called her “fashion’s billion-dollar baby” in its story on her brand’s $750 million in sales this year — projected to rise to $1 billion in 2011. People magazine described Simpson as “sitting at the helm of a nearly $1 billion empire,” while variousblogs are welcoming her to the billionaires club.

While the clothes, shoes, and bags marketed under her name might indeed make $1 billion next year bolstered by the launch of a new sportswear line, the starlet only banks a small sliver of that amount for herself. As one of my Forbes colleagues noted in a story on savvy celebrity businesswomen, Simpson sold the master license to her clothing brand — the right to market her name worldwide — to fashion brand developer the Camuto Group in 2005 for a reported $15 million. While she earns royalties on top of that advance, she’s nowhere near a billionaire. My colleague Lacey Rose estimated her earnings last year were more like $20 million.

This isn’t meant to disparage Simpson in any way: her brand is a huge success, she’s cleverly crafted a marketing-friendly ‘everywoman’ image and she’s making far more cash than she ever did in her pop career. Maybe she’ll one day join the ranks of fashion billionaires like Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, but not just yet.

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